MISS VANCOUVER PIGGY
afood Restaurant used to be known as the Chinese restaurant for fine dining, before restaurants like Peninsula at Oakridge Centre and Chef Tony in Richmond surfaced. Apart from being known as a fine dining establishment, the Kirin chain is known for their peking duck (or should I say used to be...) so when my sister and her friend had a craving, I suggested to come here. Let me get this straight however, I suggested Kirin not because their peking duck is amazing... but because everyone should try Kirin's just to say they have.
The most convenient Kirin restaurant for us to try would have been the one on Alberni Street in Downtown Vancouver, but that is the worst location I have been to - service and food wise, on multiple visits! So this brings us to Kirin on West 12th, which is another location I do not prefer because of their lack of service unless you are here with your family and the food is just not that good. The best Kirin I have been to is the location in Richmond, from the atmosphere and service to the food quality.
You know that feeling when you are starving but have dinner plans in literally a couple of hours? I despise that because whenever I try to have a snack, I end up going for a small meal and spoil my appetite for dinner. Sometimes I am fine with spoiling my appetite but it sucks because I end up stuffing myself full during dinner, overeat until I cannot breathe and walk out with a food baby. So this was the case when I waited an hour for my sister to get off work so we could have dinner together, and I ended up trying Next Noodle Bar with a friend.
Next Noodle Bar is located on Robson Street in Downtown Vancouver and has been around for almost a decade. The restaurant is fairly large, there are booth seats along with spacious seating arrangements, a high ceiling and the staff are friendly. Every table is provided with a large plate and a fork, but chopsticks are available on the side.
Blossom Teas is situated in a residential area in North Burnaby, next to Mountain Shadow Pub. Most people only know of Blossom Teas if they live in North Burnaby or by word of mouth. The bubble tea establishment offers an extensive menu from real fruit smoothies, ice cream and yogurt shakes, ice shave, coffee and tea lattes to dessert.
The atmosphere at Blossom Teas is very homey and non-rushed (although the place was not busy when we arrived). There is a fair amount of tables, a sofa, and even a couple of Japanese dart machines. The only reason I chose to visit Blossom Teas is because they offer shaved frozen yogurt! I am not a fan of shaved ice at all because shaved milk/snow ice is way better. Way. Better!
With The Boss Restaurant, Fortune House Seafood, Kawawa Japanese and Sekai Udon Bar as the only current restaurant choices in Metropolis at Metrotown, sometimes the food court may be a better option. The aforementioned restaurants are not necessarily that bad (with a couple of exceptions), but the food is not really all that great either. I was curious to try The Boss again though because the place is memorable to me.
Majority of the seating arrangements at The Boss are comfortable booths, but there are a few tables at the back. The restaurant also has plenty of staff so there is no problem waving someone down, but you have to wave them down if you need their attention or want them to clear plates. On our visit, majority of the staff were extremely miserable looking too and impatiently tossed the food on our table. But May was extremely friendly and such a sweetheart. Too bad we only saw her at the beginning and the end.
I wanted to have dim sum with my mother and I was given two options, Kirin or Fortune House. Pfft… how about none? My mother was not pleased with my attitude and brought up the time when I took her and my father to Top Gun in Burnaby for dim sum. Great, I suffered from a burned thumb which took weeks to heal, mediocre food, and now a former restaurant choice that will be used against me from now on. Well, after some persuading, I asked my mother if she wanted to try Lee Garden. I further showed her photos of the restaurant from my previous visit for dinner, insisted that Lee Garden is a newly renovated establishment and hey, it sold her!
We arrived on a weekday and the restaurant was not busy, which made parking very easy compared to finding a spot in a residential area like last time for dinner. After we walked up to the hostess' podium and stood by the sign which says "wait to be seated", we were greeted by a manager who yelled across from the dining room. This is when my mother said, "why let us stand here if you are going to yell across the room?" LOL...
Top Gun Hot Pot is one of the five restaurants that belong to the Top Gun group. The restaurant is located in Crystal Mall and serves as a dim sum restaurant during the day, but turns into a hot pot buffet in the evening. I have never been here for dim sum before but my parents have many years ago and according to them, the only edible item was the salty rice pudding, which is no longer available. This probably explains why ever since I was a child, the only dim sum restaurant in Burnaby we would go to is Fortune House at Metrotown. Although I do not know why they even like Fortune House because the food is overpriced for the quality and the line up is always ridiculous.
Anyhow, fast forward to years later, I finally get control of where we go for dim sum! After begging my parents to come here with me for two weeks… My sudden interest in having dim sum here is because ever since I had dinner at Top Gun J&C in Richmond, I thought Top Gun may be a fine dining restaurant and serve good dim sum. I actually looked through some of the dim sum photos from Top Gun J&C and the food looked good, so I assumed Top Gun in Burnaby would serve the same dishes… But I was wrong. Oh well, I had nothing to lose because I received an e-mail that dim sum would be 40% off for members.
The restaurant has plenty of booth seating arrangements along with well spaced out tables. The seating arrangements are not cramped either and are fairly comfortable. But when considering that dim sum starts at $4.95, the atmosphere does not match the higher prices. With regards to the service, there were no plate changes as well so the service does not match the higher prices either. However, the staff were fairly polite. There is only a Chinese check list menu and when I asked if there was an English version, the manager mentioned I could tell him what I wanted to order in English and he could check the items off for me! Also despite that the order sheet is in Chinese, the actual menu has English.
My parents wanted me to have dinner with them at Kirin and I agreed, with a different choice of restaurant in mind. I suggested Richmond Sushi because the restaurant is constantly busy, so the sashimi is always fresh. Of course my parents hesitated at first and insisted on going to Octopus Garden if I wanted sushi, but I pretty much forced them to go to Richmond Sushi. On the way there however, I had a bad feeling in my stomach like perhaps Richmond Sushi is closed on Tuesdays. And evidently when we arrived, the restaurant was indeed closed.
So since I had a long day, my second choice was something fast, like Tak Heng, a reliable AYCE hot pot restaurant. My parents only like Landmark, but I insisted that Tak Heng's chicken wings and goji jello are really good. Tak Heng is also a regular restaurant of mine and I have been visiting almost biweekly ever since my last visit. Although I have noticed as more visits progressed, the owners are less friendly and have become inattentive, but I could care less about the service as long as the food tastes good. Or so I thought…
We arrived around 6:00pm and like my usual visits, the restaurant was not busy. Throughout the duration of our stay, there were only six seated tables. Starting with the positives, for the first time out of more than fifteen visits, the owner mentioned their "special sauce" comes at a $5.00 charge. There was always a charge for the sauce, but it was never mentioned until now and this is appreciated.
For three consecutive days, we headed to Richmond for an errand only to end up forgetting because we focused on eating! This was irritating because the both of us reminded ourselves to "not forget" before eating. Fortunately after three trips to Richmond though, we finally got the errand done before dinner. So as we circled around Richmond looking for a place to eat, we agreed to pass on live seafood along with bubble tea restaurants and settled for a Hong Kong Style Cafe.
Redbud appears to be a new HK style cafe and a higher end one, offering dishes such as rack of lamb, steak and lobster. The restaurant is fairly spacious and there are booth seating arrangements along the walls and tables in the centre. On our visit, there was an older waitress along with a younger one and both were friendly. The younger waitress was very attentive and polite too.
On a rainy afternoon, our original lunch date was supposed to be at Bacchus but the valet man was nowhere to be seen. You see, I really hate the rain. I love snow more than the rain and am surprised that many people are the opposite. I mean, I may be fine with the rain if I am wearing wellington boots along with a trench coat and carrying a huge umbrella. But if it is the last minute kind of rain and I am already dressed, I hate the idea of changing just because of the rain! So after waiting a few minutes, we decided to head to Aberdeen Centre because of their underground parking lot and also to try Fisherman's Terrace. Going to Floata would have been more practical, but I figured Fisherman's Terrace may be better.
Fisherman's Terrace is considered a "fine dining" Chinese restaurant because of the higher prices, cleanliness, supposedly above average service and atmosphere. The restaurant is somewhat long and narrow and the seating arrangements look fairly tight. We did not arrive on a full house too.
When I used to hear the words "Top Gun restaurant" which refers to a chain of restaurants in Vancouver, I always cringed. The reason is because back in my elementary years, there was a Top Gun Sushi restaurant in New Westminster. It was an All You Can Eat Japanese restaurant and the quality was not good, as in on par with Sui Sha Ya. Then there is Top Gun in Crystal Mall which is a Chinese AYCE hot pot restaurant, but serves dim sum during the day. I remember going to Top Gun Hot Pot throughout high school but the restaurant did not compare to any of the ones in Richmond and the prices were higher. Also, my parents never took me to try the dim sum there before so I always assumed the restaurant was nothing special.
But years later, I discovered Kingsway Sushi and Richmond Sushi which are also affiliated with the Top Gun Group. It was not until last year when I discovered both restaurants too, thanks to BF for knowing the food is not bad. We actually argued about trying those restaurants before because I was ignorant and believed all AYCE Japanese restaurants were like Fish On Rice, Kawawa and Sui Sha Ya! But turns out Kingsway Sushi and Richmond Sushi serves very fresh sashimi, as fresh as it can get. So with that being said, we purchased a membership card last year for $20.00 (which is only $10.00 now, lame!) and decided to make use of it at other Top Gun restaurants.
My expectations regarding Top Gun J&C were similar to the other restaurants in the group, negative at first and not very high. However, Top Gun J&C is actually considered a fine dining restaurant and I had no clue. The interior surprised me and looks fairly "fancy". There are white linens, chopstick covers, gold seat covers, cloth napkins, and spacious seating arrangements. In addition, the staff were attentive, courteous, friendly and professional. There were only three seated tables on a weekend visit throughout our duration however, but the service was consistent and did not disappear (which happens a lot at other "fine dining" restaurants for us).
Sometimes I get embarrassed over posting about revisits and it is more embarrassing when I am practically the only one blogging about that restaurant! In this case, Shining Garden is the restaurant that I keep blogging about. But hey in my defence, I consider my blog as a diary and probably use it more than anyone else as a food guide. The restaurant is a family operated business and my go-to (obviously) Chinese restaurant, including higher end restaurants. The reason is because the food is always consistent and considering the picky person that I am, Shining Garden is one restaurant where I do not hesitant to try new dishes.
After quite a few visits, I finally told the owner that we really enjoy the food at Shining Garden. I further mentioned that we try a lot of Chinese restaurants and sometimes the first or second visits are good but when we go back, the third time is not as good! The owner's wife actually finished my sentence and I was thinking whoa, how did she know the third visit may not be good?
I was given the option to have dinner at three restaurants in Richmond which included Nu Shanghainese Bistro, Top Gun J&C or Zhao's Soup House. My first choice was Top Gun J&C but the restaurant is closed on Mondays! Following my first choice was Nu Shanghainese Bistro. However, I am saving the restaurant for an "emergency" early dinner between 4:00-5:00pm because most restaurants do not open until 5:30pm. So, I guess Zhao's Soup House it was. I was hesitant on revisiting Zhao's Soup House because from what I remember, only the peking duck tasted great. But considering the nice atmosphere along with a very friendly owner and an ongoing 15% promotion, I did not mind trying the restaurant again.
As we browsed through the menu, I forgot how pricey the dishes are. Even the live seafood is expensive, where lobster costs $28.80/lb and crab $19.00/lb which are fine dining prices. Moreover, the atmosphere is different. There are no more cloth napkins or hot towels provided upon seating and the restaurant does not offer candles with orders of tea/hot water anymore. I still like enjoy the cosmetics though.
Every time when I mention something is dirty at a Chinese restaurant such as the floor, chairs or tableware, BF anyways says, "Penny's Restaurant is still one of the worst." Honestly, I do not even remember Penny's being "that" dirty, probably because I was hungry or did not pay attention to the atmosphere. So, my man has been wanting to visit Gold Penny for quite some time because it is the new restaurant that took over the former Penny. And according to his mother, the one who only visits higher end Chinese restaurants and has very high standards, the food is not bad here.
BF tried saying the chairs have changed… but really? Hello, I have a blog. And yes, I actually pulled out my blog post and showed him the photo of the same chairs. Then he started defending himself by saying at least there is live seafood… but turns out there was none! So the joke is on him because he always has to order live seafood at a Chinese restaurant.
Rainflower Restaurant is located right next to Yao Han in Richmond. We have considered coming here a few times before but because I never knew of anyone who has been to the restaurant or heard much about it, I always assumed it was nothing special. I even thought perhaps the restaurant was a typical "ghetto" Chinese restaurant, like South Ocean Seafood. But since we were in the area after a trip to Osaka Supermarket, we decided to make a visit. Okay, fine, after shopping I did not want to go to Rainflower because of the aforementioned reasons. However, BF called to inquire about the seafood prices and when I heard the lobster was only $1.00… obviously I agreed LOL.
After we walked in, I was amazed! The interior looks amazing and I really like the Victorian style design. The seating arrangements are also comfortable as well as spacious, and I am a sucker for double plates and cloth napkins at a Chinese restaurant. In addition, there is a huge chandelier hanging in the middle of the restaurant.
The soft and bouncy cushioned chairs are very comfortable and Rainflower offers a few private rooms. Every table is also set with a white mini vase of faux flowers. I pretty much like everything about the interior including the empty restaurant. And classical as well as piano music was playing the background.
After seating, the service was very professional too. A waiter came by to remove the chopstick covers and a captain recommended a set menu for two. Personally, I do not like set menus because sometimes only $10.00-$15.00 dollars are being saved and I do not like the selection of dishes or usually the live seafood (if included) is smaller.
For a whole week, I had huge cravings for Eight Treasure Duck (ba bao ya)! But my parents did not want to make it. Personally, I have never tried making an Eight Treasure Duck before, mainly because I do not want to do waste ingredients if I am not 100% ready since it is a tricky dish to properly execute. So, this brings me to Suhang in Richmond.
Suhang is located in Richmond and may be considered a "higher end" Shanghainese restaurant, due to their higher prices compared to majority of other the restaurants. Furthermore, there is a modern atmosphere and the restaurant is fairly clean. The seating arrangements are a bit cramped however. As for the service, the staff was only friendly towards larger parties of more than six. This was a bit weird because when we ordered the Eight Treasure Duck over the phone three hours prior to our visit, the gentleman was friendly but in person… not so much.
Long's Noodle House is a small family operated restaurant along Main Street, specializing in Shanghainese cuisine. Reservations are recommended regardless of the day of week and because the restaurant is always busy, being turned down should be no surprise. 
We arrived on a Friday evening with no reservations and were fortunate enough to not have to wait. There are a couple of large tables in the restaurant and for those in small groups, may have to share tables. Fortunately in our case though, we were offered a seat at the back of the restaurant which seats four people! This was perfect for us because we tend to order a lot of food.
Unintentionally spending an unproductive day from grabbing a breakfast snack at Mancakes (which was good), then going for mediocre dim sum in Richmond at Red Star but having to rush back to Vancouver, followed by a scare of Xu's Wonton House permanently closing which resulted in us trying North Meixi for a couple of unpleasant dim sum dishes, to walking around Crystal Mall afterwards because we needed to kill time before eating dinner. After all this, I just wanted to go home! I hate unproductive days and it was pretty much having to come back to Vancouver that caused the hiccup in our plans, sigh.
The good news is, killing time by walking around Crystal Mall was not so bad because it was worth it in the end to have dinner at S&W Pepper House. We did not even have to circle around for parking this time too! S&W Pepper House offers authentic Szechuan cuisine and the restaurant uses dried chilli peppers as well as Szechuan peppercorns, therefore no BS chilli oil and soy sauce only!
An Instagram friend mentioned that Xu's Wonton House was "gone" and confirmed with "Yeah it's gone now!", but I did not believe her. How could Xu's be out of business? So after finishing an errand in Vancouver and still hungry because we did not eat much of the unappealing dim sum at Red Star, we rushed to Crystal Mall. When we arrived, turns out the food stall was only closed for the day! Geezus, was she trying to give me a heart attack?
His original choice was Red Star in Marpole, but I honestly find their dim sum only average and suggested trying the location in Richmond! Ever since I had dim sum at Chef Tony, honest to truth I thought to myself, perhaps I actually like dim sum… but good dim sum. How is it possible that I could care less about the typical Kirin, Sun Sui Wah and Red Star?
Walking in, the cashier/hostess was friendly and there were plenty of staff on the floor, perhaps around seven? The restaurant was very cold and we were not sure why the AC was cranked so high considering there was a miserable storm outside. We also waited around ten minutes for tea which is a bit odd because usually the staff are fairly prompt about that, plus it is a "fine dining" Chinese restaurant that was not busy.
